


ab imo pectore (from the bottom of my heart)

by IvyPrincess



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Inaccurate Christianity, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Slow To Update, the author apologizes in advance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23939359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyPrincess/pseuds/IvyPrincess
Summary: Retribution flies like an arrow.Sometimes it is one.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

The soldiers surge forward in waves, shattering through the doors of the great hall with the strength of the typhoon. It's eerily empty, coals flickering in the wall-mounted braziers like observing eyes, devoid of all figures except one.

"Fire!" A roar comes from the back of the deluge, and the archers let loose a whirlwind over the frontline's heads. The resulting flock of arrows fly true, shooting so quickly the ensuing breeze stifles all the illuminating flames, and the hall is plunged into darkness.

That is, until a single torch is relit at the other end of the room, throwing the kneeling figure back into sharp relief. There are arrows embedded deep and thick in the plush carpet around him, resembling a pile of rushes, and a chill seeps down Jaehyun's spine with the memory of a childhood sermon.

"Moses drifted among the reeds of the Nile, knowing naught but the breast of his mother, his people unjustly slaughtered by cruel Egypt," the old priest had intoned, "and who but God Himself could have allowed the Pharaoh's daughter to find him?"

The ermine robe falls away from bare shoulders as Lucifer rises naked to his feet. Because who else but the devil himself would face an empire so effortlessly, arrows embedded through mangled flesh until golden ichor drips over the curve of that feminine waist, unholy starlight dancing in his eyes and the promise of sin on his lips?

" _Well_." And Renjun’s voice is hauntingly melodic, winding serpentine through their horde. Eve's apple is dangling, tantalizing for a bite. Jaehyun swallows against a suddenly dry throat. The usurper sneers.

**_"You didn't expect to actually kill a god today, did you?"_ **

* * *

The kingdom fell easily enough, as one would expect when the king’s vanguard was slaughtered to a man. No one dared raise a word of protest after that, not when neighboring territories were walled out by a rain of golden feathers, sharp as blades and just as deadly. Trade had all but stopped, but the food was more plentiful than ever, fields of gold tall and lush. The harvest was fed by blood, people whispered under their own roofs.

They ate anyway.

Jaehyun didn’t dare look up even as the tip of a fan stroked down his jawline, forcing his chin up with silk-edged steel. His arms ached from where they were bound behind his back, but that didn’t stop him from trying to strain against them anyway.

“Oh come now.” His laugh was a bubble of innocent melody, beautiful even through the unnatural crimson slashed across his lips. “Am I that unsightly? It was a mere tussle.” Jaehyun’s lips twist into a snarl he can’t help. A mere _tussle_ , the monster says, one that left his men bisected, their remnants plastered to the walls in a single swipe from the fallen angel arraigned proudly in front of him.

“You still have a choice, you know.” The sweet voice continues to whisper poison into his ears. Jaehyun shivers as Renjun finally crouches down to brush the bangs back from his forehead, forcing him to meet the eyes of the devil. He’s stopped hiding the inhuman slit of his pupils, seductive purple as hard to face as it had been even when he was still playing human. “Swear to me, and I’ll provide for you in return.” One perfectly sculpted eyebrow arches. “A worthy trade, hm? Wouldn’t you agree, pet?” He calls out, though his eyes never leave Jaehyun’s.

The only other living being in the room doesn’t respond immediately, eyes hooded with manic jealousy, though his posture never changes. “My lord.” Jaehyun doesn’t recognize the boy he raised like a son anymore, with his hair white as snow and obsessive lust writ through his shadowed features. His bare hands are coated in gold dust, wrapped around his wrists and snaking up his arms, and Jaehyun finds himself mourning for the living. At least his brother never witnessed his descent.

Renjun scoffs impatiently. He shrugs at Jaehyun coquettishly, silk robe flashing a shoulder as it slips down slowly, but Jaehyun can only reel backwards in revulsion. The puncture wounds are gone, porcelain flesh as unmarked as a newborn child, and Jaehyun is only beginning to realize how little his men had been destroyed for.

“Well, Jung Jaehyun?” Each syllable of his name is pronounced with care, verbal contract hanging in the taut air, and the general has never been more sure of his answer. 

“Never,” he croaks out as precisely as he can, matching the fallen angel’s mock graciousness with vitriol, and the cherubic smile slides off Renjun’s face as easily as it had come. Marble hardens to diamond, the new king’s gaze turning flinty at Jaehyun’s refusal. The deadliness resurfaces from where it had pooled under a thin film of majestic concern, and Jaehyun doesn’t have enough time to reconsider his choice. Not that he would, after all that had occurred.

Renjun sighs forlornly, but the human emotions are as thin and ill-suited as the sword Jeno hands him, brutish steel in a thin bangled arm that wields the weapon with ease. “Such a shame,” he laments, but the coldness in his eyes belie his true thoughts. “We could have been beautiful together, darling.”

The last thing Jaehyun sees before all turns black is the equally demonic satisfaction in Jeno’s gaze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In theory, this entire fic should be told in flashbacks.


	2. Chapter 2

The first time they locked eyes, he was chained and muzzled like the beast they hadn’t known he was. Even restrained like an animal, those wings of gilt still captured all of Jaehyun’s attention, that demure kneel marred by suggestive streaks of filth.

“A fine specimen, isn’t it?” The old king inquires with subtle glee, once the captain of his guard has completed his salutations. “The expedition from the west brought it back, as tribute, or so they say,” he chortles, and Jaehyun exudes silent disapproval at the dismissal of treasonous insolence.

“A dangerous specimen, to be sure,” he demurred, gaze never straying from the creature’s cage. The winged figure peers expressionlessly back at him, swathed in links of coarse steel, but even clad in rags, they silently acknowledge one another: predator to predator, like recognizing like.

“Pretty little thing,” Jaehyun’s liege agrees. “But it refuses to give me a name, and without one, I cannot bring it to heel. Pah!” He spits to the side. “Commander Jung, why don’t you talk to it?”

Jaehyun glances to his side. “Me, your majesty?”

The king gestures vaguely, goblet sloshing with ruby liquid. “You’re a capable man, aren’t you, Jaehyun? One of my finest. Never fear, I won’t fault you if no reply is obtained. But do try your hand against the little beastie. Go on, now.”

And he must obey, stepping carefully, avoid the spittle still foaming on the ground. The gathered nobles move out of his path as he takes measured strides forward, toward the oversized birdcage and its wary inhabitant. The lords and ladies may act like mindless sheep, but even their basic instincts are strong enough to recognize a wolf amongst their flock. They huddle far enough to avoid his sword if he draws that treacherous blade of his, but close enough to titter behind lacy fans.

The creature watches intently as he approaches its gilded prison, never moving even as he draws his sword, not a feather a-twitch despite the gasps and whispers behind their confrontation. The blade sparkles unceasingly under torchlight, dazzling rainbows trapped beneath its translucent surface. _Invictus_ , it had sung to him. _Unconquered_. It had fulfilled the promise of its chosen name ever since.

The distance between Jaehyun and the cage shrank slowly until he was all but pressed up against gold bars, extending his arm to tip the swordpoint to the creature’s ironclad cheek, crystal blade carving easily through the muzzle’s seam until it clatters loudly to the ground in halves, the gong of its echo ringing hollowly through the chamber.

The creature gasps for air, exposing fluttering throat and heaving chest to gazes that are suddenly all too lecherous. The muzzle had been heavy enough to leave red marks along those sculpted collarbones, and even Jaehyun resisted a dry swallow at such an expanse of creamy, unbroken skin. For all the wings represented something sinisterly inhuman, the body they were attached to was all too human, all too enticing in its flawlessness.

But Jaehyun was made of sterner stuff, even if the creature’s eyes were shining with mirth at his subtle lapse in composure.

“Your name?” He challenges, voice carrying for all to hear, and the hall stills at the angelic laugh he receives in response. That pure, bell-like sound should not belong to a devil, one proven capable of ripping his men’s throats out with teeth alone.

“Do you know,” the creature laughs, “that any lesser man who addressed me so rudely would have been struck down already?” It wipes a tear of mirth away, lounging into a more relaxed position, as much as its chains would allow. Its wings open slightly, expanding and catching the light, gleaming hypnotically.

Jaehyun remains impassive despite its sudden coyness, raising his own defensive killing intent in response. “I won’t ask again.”

It tilts its head, assessing him like a lion stalks prey unaware that it is already dead. “You may call me Renjun,” it purrs. “ _Commander_.”

And Jaehyun shivers at the way that foreign lilt rolls his title around its tongue.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/1vyPrincess) and [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/IvyPrincess)


End file.
